Method for coding a sequence of digital images

ABSTRACT

A method for coding a sequence of digital images The invention refers to a method for coding a sequence of digital images (I), wherein the method uses a number of prediction modes for predicting values of pixels (P 1 ) in the images (I) based on reconstructed values of pixels in image areas processed previously, where a prediction error (PE) between predicted values and the original values of pixels (P 1 ) is processed for generating the coded sequence of digital images (CI). The invention is characterized in that a preset prediction mode is an intra-prediction mode based on pixels of a single image (I) and comprises steps i) and ii) as follows. In step i), for a region (R) of pixels with reconstructed values in the single image (I) and for a template (TE) of an image area, a first patch (PA 1 ) of pixels in the region (R) which surround a first pixel (P 1 ) to be predicted based on the template (TE) is compared with several second patches (PA 2 ), each second patch (PA 2 ) being assigned to a second pixel (P 2 ) from a plurality of second pixels (P 2 ) in the region (R) and consisting of pixels in the region (R) which surround the second pixel (P 2 ) based on the template (TE), thereby determining a similarity measure (SM) for each second pixel (P 2 ) describing the similarity between reconstructed values of the pixels of the second patch (PA 2 ) assigned to the respective second pixel (P 2 ) and the reconstructed values of the pixels of the first patch (PA 1 ). In step ii), a predicted value of the first pixel (P 1 ) is deter-mined based on the values of one or more second pixels (P 2 ) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P 2 ) of the plurality of second pixels (P 2 ) in the region (R).

The invention refers to a method for coding a sequence of digital images as well as to a corresponding decoding method. Furthermore, the invention refers to an apparatus for coding a sequence of digital images and an apparatus for decoding a sequence of digital images.

In many different applications, e.g. in surveillance systems or in medical imagery apparatus, a great amount of image and video data is produced. Hence, there is a need to compress this data in order to save storage capacity or to reduce the bandwidth when transmitting the data.

In the prior art, there exist a lot of standards in order to compress image and video data. Prominent examples of the standards are H.264/AVC (AVC=Advanced Video Coding, see document [1]) as well as the draft standard HEVC (HEVC=High Efficiency Video Coding, see also document [2]), which will be standardized also as ITU-T Recommendation H.265. The standard HEVC will also allow the real-time transmission of lossless coded image sequences. The standards HEVC and H.264/AVC include different intra prediction modes based on blocks in the same image. In those modes, a current block is predicted for already reconstructed pixels in the neighborhood. An encoder usually tests different prediction types and choses the one with minimal cost with respect to a certain distortion criterion. The prediction error is built for the current block and is transmitted to the decoder together with the prediction type. Block-wise prediction has the disadvantage that pixels which are far away from the reference pixels used for prediction do not correlate well with the reference pixels. Hence, the prediction error is usually higher for those pixels. In order to improve the prediction, the size of a block can be reduced. However, this results in a higher number of blocks in an image, which leads to a higher bitrate for signaling of the prediction type. Furthermore, if the reference pixels contain noise, those pixels become suboptimal for prediction.

A simple and efficient pixel-wise prediction method is proposed in document [3]. This prediction method named LOCO-I uses a simple and straight forward algorithm to predict a pixel based on three surrounding pixels. This prediction method is not optimal for compression for noisy images, either.

In document [4] as well as in International patent application No. PCT/EP2012/075988, a template based prediction is disclosed where a predicted value of a pixel is determined by comparing a patch according to the template around the pixel with other patches according to the template around pixels in the neighborhood of the pixel to be predicted. As a result of this comparison, similarity measures between the patches are determined. The prediction is based on a weighted sum of the pixel values in the neighborhood taking into account a similarity measure, where lower similarity measures result in lower weights. This prediction method is rather complex and not suited for special types of contents, e.g. the content of a computer screen.

It is an object of the invention to provide a coding of a sequence of digital images overcoming the above disadvantages and enabling an efficient compression with low complexity. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a corresponding decoding method as well as an apparatus for coding and an apparatus for decoding.

This object is solved by the independent patent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

The method for coding a sequence of digital images according to the invention uses a number of prediction modes (i.e. at least one prediction mode) for predicting values of pixels in the images based on reconstructed values of pixels in image areas processed previously. The term “reconstructed values of pixels” is to be interpreted broadly and depends on the used coding scheme. For lossless coding, the reconstructed values of pixels correspond to the original value of pixels. In case of a lossy coding, the reconstructed values of pixels correspond to coded and thereafter decoded values of pixels. Moreover, the reconstructed values of pixels may also refer to predicted values of pixels determined in the corresponding prediction mode. Predicted values of pixels are used in case that a coding and decoding of the respective pixel has not yet been performed when predicting the current pixel.

In the coding method, a prediction error between predicted values and the original values of pixels is processed for generating the coded sequence of digital images.

The method of the invention is characterized by a special preset prediction mode, which is an intra-prediction mode based on pixels of a single image. This preset prediction mode comprises steps i) and ii) as explained in the following.

In step i), for a region of pixels with reconstructed values in a single image and for a template of an image area, a first patch of pixels in the region which surround a first pixel to be predicted based on the template is compared with several second patches, each second patch being assigned to a second pixel from a plurality of second pixels in the region and consisting of pixels in the region which surround the second pixel based on the template. Based on this comparison, a similarity measure for each second pixel is determined which describes the similarity between reconstructed values of the pixels of the second patch assigned to the respective second pixel and the reconstructed values of the pixels of the first patch.

In a step ii) of the method according to the invention, a predicted value of the first pixel is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure among all second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region.

The invention is based on the idea that the complexity of the prediction as described in document [4] and International patent application No. PCT/EP2012/075988 can be reduced by determining a predicted value not on a weighted sum of pixels but on a pixel having the highest similarity according to the similarity measure. The whole disclosure of document [4] and above mentioned International patent application is incorporated by reference in the instant application.

The method of the invention provides an efficient coding particularly for screen content without the need of solving a linear system of equations as it is the case in prior art methods. Furthermore, there is no restriction in the number of second pixels to be used for predicting a first pixel. Moreover, no or less side information needs to be transmitted from the encoder to the decoder because the prediction scheme according to the invention is backward adaptive. Furthermore, the prediction is carried out sample-based so that the prediction error does not depend on the pixel position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the predicted value of the first pixel is the value of a single second pixel which has the highest similarity described by the similarity measure among all second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region. If there are several second pixels having the highest similarity, the single second pixel is chosen by a predetermined order of second pixels in the plurality of second pixels, where the single second pixel is the second pixel having at first the highest similarity in the predetermined order of second pixels. Alternatively or additionally, the predicted value of the first pixel may also be determined based on the values of all second pixels which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure in the plurality of second pixels in the region. In case that there is only a single second pixel having the highest similarity, the predicted value of the first pixel is the value of this single second pixel. If several second pixels having the highest similarity exist, the predicted value of the first pixel is a combination and particularly a linear combination of the values of said several second pixels, preferably the mean of the values of said second several pixels. The above described two variants of the invention provide efficient mechanisms for dealing with cases where several pixels with the same maximum similarity measure exist.

In another embodiment of the invention, the preset prediction mode is performed block-wise for first pixels in predetermined image blocks. Hence, the method can be easily combined with block-based coding schemes.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the similarity measure is based on the sum of absolute differences between corresponding (reconstructed) pixels in the first patch and the respective second patch. However, also the sum of squared differences between corresponding pixels in the first patch and the respective second patch may be used for defining the similarity measure.

In another embodiment of the invention, the single image is a two-dimensional image with pixels at a plurality of vertical and horizontal positions, where the plurality of second pixels in the region and/or the template is defined such that the plurality of second pixels in the region and/or the template surround a corresponding pixel by at least two adjacent pixels, where the corresponding pixel is the first pixel in case of defining the plurality of second pixels in the region and the corresponding pixel is the pixel surrounded by the first or second patch based on the template in case of defining a template, said at least two adjacent pixels comprising:

-   -   an upper adjacent pixel having a vertical position being offset         upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel and         having the same horizontal position as the corresponding pixel         in the single image;     -   a left adjacent pixel having a horizontal position being offset         to the left by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel         and having the same vertical position as the corresponding pixel         in the single image; and optionally     -   an upper-left pixel having a vertical position being offset         upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel and         having a horizontal position being offset to the left by one         pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel in the single         image.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the plurality of second pixels in the region and/or the template further comprise an upper-right pixel having a vertical position being offset upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel and having a horizontal position being offset to the right by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel in the single image.

The above methods defining the plurality of second pixels in the region based on adjacent pixels may be combined with an embodiment of the invention where a predetermined order is given for choosing a second pixel for prediction in case of several second pixels with the highest similarity. To do so, the predetermined order in the plurality of second pixels may be defined as follows:

the upper adjacent pixel, the left adjacent pixel, the upper-left pixel and, in case that the plurality of second pixels also comprises the upper-right pixel, the upper-right pixel.

Alternatively, the predetermined order in the plurality of second pixels may be defined as follows:

the upper adjacent pixel, the upper-right pixel (if present), the left adjacent pixel and the upper-left pixel and.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the preset prediction mode is used for lossless coding of the sequence of images. In this case, reconstructed values of pixels used in step i) are equal to the original values of pixels.

In another embodiment of the invention, the preset prediction mode is used for lossy coding of the sequence of images. Preferably, the lossy coding includes the known steps of a transform and/or a quantization of the (transformed) prediction errors, where an inverse transform and/or a dequantization of the prediction errors are performed for determining reconstructed values of pixels. In case that a prediction error for a pixel has not yet been subjected to the transform and/or quantization, the predicted value of the pixel is used as the reconstructed value.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the processing of the prediction error includes an entropy coding step enhancing the coding efficiency.

In another embodiment, the method of the invention comprises a predetermined prediction mode besides the preset prediction mode, where the predetermined prediction mode comprises the same step i) as the preset prediction mode but a different step ii) in which a predicted value of the first pixel is determined based on a weighed sum of values of the second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region, where the value of each second pixel is weighted by a weighting factor. In this embodiment, the preset prediction mode is used for the first pixel as an alternative to the predetermined prediction mode in case that all weighting factors of the weighted sum are zero. In a particularly preferred variant of this embodiment, the prediction mode as defined in document [4] and International patent application No. PCT/EP2012/075988 is used as the predetermined prediction mode. When using this prediction mode, the weighting factor is monotonously decreasing in dependency on a decreasing similarity described by the similarity measure for the respective second pixel.

In another variant of the invention, one or more of the parameters of the preset prediction mode may be fixed and/or variable. Said one or more parameters preferably comprise the form and the size of the template and/or the form and the size of the region and/or one or more parameters referring to the determination of the similarity measures and/or a determination of predicted values of first pixels.

In another embodiment of the invention, the preset prediction mode and/or parameters of the preset prediction mode are signaled in the coding sequence of images. In the detailed description, different variants for signaling the prediction mode or corresponding parameters are described.

In a particularly preferred variant of the invention, the preset prediction mode is used as a prediction mode in the standard HEVC/H.265, for which a draft version exists at the moment.

Besides the above method, the invention also refers to a method for decoding a sequence of digital images, which is coded by the coding method of the invention or one or more preferred embodiments of the coding method of the invention. In the decoding method, the prediction error is reconstructed from the coded sequence of images and the values of the pixels in the coded sequence of images which are processed by the preset prediction mode during coding and are subjected to a special decoding process which comprises steps i) to iii) as described in the following.

In a step i), for a region of pixels with decoded values in a single image which have been determined previously in the decoding processing and for a template of an image area, a first patch of pixels in the region which surrounds a first pixel to be predicted based on the template is compared with several second patches, each second patch being assigned to a second pixel from a plurality of second pixels in the region and consisting of pixels in the region which surround the second pixel based on the template, thereby determining a similarity measure for each second pixel describing the similarity between decoded values of the pixels of the second patch assigned to the respective second pixel and the decoded values of the pixels of the first patch.

In a step ii), a predicted value of the first pixel is determined based on the (decoded) values of one or more second pixels which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure among all second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region.

In a step iii), the predicted value of the first pixel is corrected by the corresponding reconstructed prediction error for the first pixel resulting in a decoded value of the first pixel.

The invention also refers to a method for coding and decoding a sequence of digital images, wherein the sequence of digital images is coded by the coding method of the invention and wherein the coded sequence of digital images is decoded by the decoding method of the invention.

The invention also comprises an apparatus for coding a sequence of images wherein the apparatus includes a means for performing an number of prediction modes for predicting values of pixels in the images based on reconstructed values of pixels in image areas processed previously, where the prediction error between predicted values and the original values of pixels is processed for generating the coded sequence of digital images.

In this apparatus, the means for performing a number of prediction modes comprises a means for performing a preset prediction mode which is an intra-prediction mode based on pixels of a single image, where said means for performing the preset prediction mode comprises:

a means for determining similarity measures which is adapted to perform a step in which

-   -   for a region of pixels with reconstructed values in the single         image and for a template of an image area, a first patch of         pixels in the region which surround a first pixel to be         predicted based on the template is compared with several second         patches, each second patch being assigned to a second pixel from         a plurality of second pixels in the region and consisting of         pixels in the region which surround the second pixel based on         the template, thereby determining a similarity measure for each         second pixel describing the similarity between reconstructed         values of the pixels of the second patch assigned to the         respective second pixel and the reconstructed values of the         pixels of the first patch;         a second means for predicting values of first pixels which is         adapted to perform a step in which     -   a predicted value of a first pixel is determined based on the         values of one or more second pixels which have the highest         similarity described by the similarity measure among all second         pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region.

The above coding apparatus preferably includes one or more additional means for performing one or more preferred embodiments of the coding method according to the invention.

The invention also refers to an apparatus for decoding a sequence of digital images which is coded by the method of the invention. The apparatus includes a decoding means to reconstruct the prediction error from the coded sequence of images and to decode the values of the pixels in the coded sequence of images which are processed by the preset prediction mode during coding.

The decoding means of the apparatus comprises:

a means for determining similarity measures which is adapted to perform a step in which

-   -   for a region of pixels with decoded values in the single image         which have been determined previously in the decoding processing         and for a template of an image area, a first patch of pixels in         the region which surround a first pixel to be predicted based on         the template is compared with several second patches, each         second patch being assigned to a second pixel from a plurality         of second pixels in the region and consisting of pixels in the         region which surround the second pixel based on the template,         thereby determining a similarity measure for each second pixel         describing the similarity between decoded values of the pixels         of the second patch assigned to the respective second pixel and         the decoded values of the pixels of the first patch;         a means for predicting values of first pixels which is adapted         to perform a step in which     -   a predicted value of a first pixel is determined based on the         values of one or more second pixels which have the highest         similarity described by the similarity measure among all second         pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region;         a means for correcting the predicted values of first pixels         which is adapted to perform a step in which     -   the predicted value of a first pixel is corrected by the         corresponding reconstructed prediction error for the first pixel         resulting in a decoded value of the first pixel.

The invention also comprises a codec for coding and decoding a sequence of digital images, comprising a coding apparatus according to the invention and a decoding apparatus according to the invention.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with respect to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows different templates which may be used in the prediction method according to the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the prediction of a pixel based on an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the prediction of a pixel based on another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a coding method implementing the prediction mode according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a decoding method implementing the prediction mode according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a coding and decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

The prediction method described in the following is based on intra-prediction and uses for a pixel to be predicted patches based on a template around pixels in a predetermined region of already reconstructed pixels. To do so, similarity measures between a first patch around a first pixel to be predicted and respective second patches around second pixels in the predetermined region are determined as will described in more detail below. The prediction method is implemented as a prediction mode in a coding method and can be particularly used in the video coding (draft) standard HEVC/H.265.

FIG. 1 illustrates different forms and sizes SI1, SI2, . . . , SI6 of templates for first and second patches which may be used in an embodiment of the invention. In this figure, a first pixel to be predicted in an image is designated as P1 and has the pixel value X. The coding order is line by line where all pixels in lines above the pixel P1 and all pixels in the line of pixel P1 at the left side of this pixel have already been coded. In order to calculate a similarity measure, patches based on templates according to sizes SI1 to SI6 can be used. The corresponding templates TE are indicated by hatching for each form and size. I.e., the template of form and size SI1 comprises pixels a, b, c, the template of form and size SI2 comprises pixels a, b, c, d, the template of form and size SI3 comprises the pixels e, a, b, c, d, f and so on.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a region R, which defines a neighborhood region comprising those pixels which are taken into account when predicting the value for pixel P1. The region comprises amongst others second pixels a, b and c. Respective second patches adjacent to those pixels based on the template TE are used for calculating a similarity measure SM (see FIG. 2). I.e., the first patch including the pixels a, b, and c is compared with the second patch of pixels around pixel a (namely pixels e, g, and b), with the second patch of the pixels around pixel b (namely pixels g, k, and h) and with the second patch around the pixel c (namely pixels b, h, and f) in order to determine similarity measures between the first and the respective second patch. Hence, the neighborhood region is based on the pixels a, b and c and the pixels in the patches around those second pixels. Analogously, corresponding neighborhood regions are defined for the other sizes SI2 to SI6 by second pixels corresponding to the template and the pixels of the patches around the second pixels. Hence, the definition of a template size also corresponds to a definition of a neighborhood region size. Furthermore, the pixels in a template constitute the plurality of second pixels as defined in the claims.

The above described calculation of similarity measures for predicting a first pixel P1 is further illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 uses for the prediction of the pixel P1 patches based on the template of the size SI2 in FIG. 2. Those templates have an L-form and comprise four pixels. To determine the predicted value of pixel P1, the first patch including pixels a, b, c, and d around P1 is compared with second patches. As an example, second patches around the pixels n, s, and w are highlighted by hatching in FIG. 2. Those pixels are second pixels P2. The corresponding similarity measure SM for each of those pixels is calculated by comparing the pixel values of the first patch PA1 with the corresponding pixels values of the second patch surrounding the corresponding pixel P2. In the embodiment described herein, the sum of the absolute differences of pixel values in the first and second patch are used for determining the similarity measure SM. E.g., for pixel P2 having the value s, the absolute difference between the pixel value r of PA2 and pixel value a of PA1, the absolute difference of pixel value m′ of PA2 and pixel value b of PA1, the absolute difference of pixel value n′ of PA2 and pixel value c of PA1 and the absolute difference of pixel value o′ of PA2 and pixel value d of PA1 are summed for calculating the similarity measure of pixel P2 having the value s. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, all pixels in the region corresponding to the pixels indicated by hatching in size SI6 of FIG. 1 are used as second pixels for which a similarity measure is calculated.

After having determined the similarity measure for all second pixels in the neighborhood region of the first pixel, the value of the second pixel with the highest similarity according to the similarity measure is used for predicting the first pixel. This is described in more detail with respect to another embodiment of the invention which is shown in FIG. 3.

In this embodiment, a template TE corresponding to the size SI2 of FIG. 1 is used as it is the case for the embodiment of FIG. 2. However, the neighborhood region defined in FIG. 3 is based on the size SI2 whereas size SI6 is used as neighborhood region in the embodiment of FIG. 2. The first pixel P1 to be predicted and the corresponding first patch PA1 based on the template TE are shown in the upper part of FIG. 3. The template TE comprises four pixels adjacent to pixel P1, namely an upper pixel AP1, a left pixel AP2, an upper left pixel AP3 and an upper-right pixel AP4. Those pixels also form second pixels P2 shown in the lower part of FIG. 2. Throughout FIG. 3, pixels referring to templates are indicated by white squares.

According to FIG. 3, four second pixels P2 around the first pixel P1 with corresponding second patches PA2 are taken into account in order to calculate the similarity measures. Those four second pixels P2 and second patches PA2 are represented by arrows AR1 to AR4 being directed to the respective second pixels P2 surrounded by second patches PA2. Each second pixel is described by a shift sh=(sh_(x), sh_(y)), where sh_(x) refers to the horizontal shift (i.e. in x direction) of the second pixel P2 with respect to pixel P1 and where sh_(y) refers to the vertical shift (i.e. in y direction) of the second pixel P2 with respect to the first pixel P1. A positive shift in the horizontal direction refers to a shift to the right in the image whereas a negative shift in the horizontal direction refers to a shift to the left in the image. Analogously, a positive shift in the vertical direction refers to a shift downwards in the image whereas a negative shift in the vertical direction refers to a shift upwards in the image. The numbers of the corresponding shifts sh_(x) and sh_(y) indicate how many pixels a shift includes.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the second patch around the pixel P2 shifted by sh=(−1, 0), the second patch around pixel P2 shifted by shift sh=(−1, −1), the second patch around second pixel shifted by shift sh=(0, −1) and the second patch around second pixel shifted by shift sh=(1, −1) are compared with the first patch PA1 around first pixel P1. As mentioned above, this comparison is based on the sum of absolute differences between corresponding pixel values. This sum is also referred to as SAD in the following. Mathematically, the sum of the absolute differences for a first pixel i compared with a second pixel j can be expressed as follows:

$\begin{matrix} {{{SAD}_{i,j} = {\sum\limits_{n \in N_{0}}{{{p\left\lbrack {i + n} \right\rbrack} - {p\left\lbrack {j + n} \right\rbrack}}}}},} & (1) \end{matrix}$

where i=(x, y) is the two-dimensional coordinate of the first pixel and j is the corresponding shifted two-dimensional coordinate of the second pixel. N₀ refers to the offsets defining a template. In FIG. 3, those offsets are identical to the shifts resulting in second pixels. I.e., N₀ is defined by the shifts sh and, thus, reads as follows:

N ₀ ={n=(x,y)|(−1,0),(−1,−1),(0,−1),(1,−1)}  (2).

For predicting the first pixel, the second pixel of the shifted pixels having the patch with the lowest SAD value and, thus, with the highest similarity with the first patch is used. Thus, if the second pixel with the highest similarity is at the position j, then the predicted value {circumflex over (p)}[i] of the first pixel at the position i corresponds to the value p[j] of the pixel j, i.e.:

{circumflex over (p)}[i]=p[j]  (3).

If more than one second pixel has the same highest similarity (i.e. the same minimum SAD value), a predefined order is used to determine which of those pixels is used as a predictor. In the embodiment described herein, this order is as follows:

upper pixel, left pixel, upper-left pixel and upper-right pixel. The SAD values of the second pixels are checked in this order and the pixel in this order having at first the minimum SAD value is then used for predicting the corresponding first pixel.

The above described prediction mode based on the pixel having the highest similarity can be implemented in different ways. In one embodiment, the above described prediction scheme is used as an “Escape” solution for the prediction mode as described in document [4] and the International patent application No. PCT/EP2012/075988. In the prediction mode used in these documents, a weighted sum of the above described similarity measures is used as already mentioned before. The weights in the sum are defined such that those weights are monotonously decreasing in dependence on a decreasing similarity described by the similarity measure. In the Escape solution, the prediction method of the invention based on the pixel with the highest similarity (i.e. the lowest SAD value) is used in case that all weights of the weighted sum according to the prediction mode of document [4] and patent application PCT/EP2012/075988 are 0.

In another implementation, the above described prediction mode based on the highest similarity may also be used as a stand-alone intra-prediction scheme. I.e., the prediction scheme is signaled as a separate prediction mode among other prediction types. In contrast to known directional prediction modes, the prediction mode based on the highest similarity does not need to signal the prediction direction in the coded video stream because the decoder automatically determines the prediction direction based on the method as described above.

In the following, the implementation of the above described prediction method in a conventional coding and decoding method, which is preferably based on the draft standard HEVC/H.265, is described.

FIG. 4 shows a block-based encoder receiving the sequence of images I to be decoded. The encoder includes at several positions a switch ls which is in a position describing a lossless coding mode which uses the prediction method of the invention. In case that the switch ls is switched in a second position, a known coding is performed where a prediction error PE obtained by the differentiator is subjected to a transform T and a quantization Q. This prediction error is then subjected to an entropy encoding EC so that a sequence of coded images CI is obtained. During this conventional coding, another prediction method than the method of the invention is used. To do so, the prediction error after quantization is dequantized (block DQ) and subjected to an inverse transform IT. This reconstructed prediction error is combined by adder AD with a prediction value from a prediction module PR so that reconstructed pixel values of the corresponding block are obtained. These reconstructed values are stored in a buffer BF and used for performing prediction in the prediction module PR. The predicted value calculated in the module PR is then fed to the differentiator DI to provide a prediction error PE. Furthermore, a loop filter LF is used for filtering the signal obtained by the adder AD. The loop filter block LF may refer to different loop filters, i.e. a deblocking filter, an SAO filter (SAO=Sample Adaptive Offset), and the like.

In case that the lossless switch ls is put in the position as shown in FIG. 4, a lossless coding using the prediction method of the invention is performed. To do so, the blocks for transform T, quantization Q, dequantization DQ, inverse transform IT, and loop filter LF are bypassed. In this mode, the reconstructed prediction error PE fed to the adder AD corresponds to the original prediction error PE. Furthermore, the values of pixels in the causal region used for prediction are the original pixels because the original pixel values are available during decoding as the coding is lossless.

When using the lossless coding, the prediction method based on the above described algorithm is used in the prediction module PR. The dotted lines L in FIG. 5 illustrate the inclusion of parameters of the prediction in the lossless and lossy coding mode in the sequence of coded images. Those parameters are also subjected to entropy coding. The state of the above lossless switch ls can be signaled explicitly for each block, slice, frame, or sequence separately. However, the state can also be inferred for each block, slice, frame, or sequence from some other parameters, e.g. by using the quantization parameter QP. E.g., in case that the quantization parameter has the value of 0, this can be the indication that the lossless mode is to be used.

FIG. 5 shows a decoder of the coded sequence of images CI obtained by the encoder of FIG. 5. At first, the images are subjected to an entropy decoding ED resulting in a prediction error PE. In case of a lossless encoding, the switches is are in the first positions as shown in FIG. 5. As a consequence, the prediction error is used directly by the prediction module PR. To do so, the original pixel value is obtained by the adder AD and stored in the buffer BF. The stored values in the buffer BF are used for further prediction by the prediction module PR. Eventually, the sequence of decoded images DI being identical to the original images I is obtained. In case of a lossy encoding, all switches is are put in the second position so that in a known manner a dequantization DQ, an inverse transform IT and a loop filter LF are applied to the signal in order to perform another prediction in the prediction module PR. As a consequence, a decoded sequence of images is obtained where some information is lost due to quantization and transform. The dotted line L in FIG. 5 represents the provision of parameters originally included in the coded sequence of images which are needed by the predictor module PR to perform appropriate prediction. In the lossy coding mode, well-known prediction techniques based on INTRA as well as on INTER prediction may be used.

As mentioned above, the prediction method according to the invention is to be implemented in the draft standard HEVC/H.264. Preferably, the prediction method is used for lossless coding as described above. If a corresponding coding unit is coded in a lossless way, the transform, quantization and loop filtering within the encoder are disabled as shown in FIG. 4. Similarly, the inverse transform, the dequantization and the loop filtering are disabled within the decoder, too. The following options may be used in order to incorporate the prediction method according to the invention into the HEVC syntax:

-   -   a certain prediction mode for the prediction of the invention is         used in addition to the modes INTRA and INTER;     -   a certain prediction type for the prediction of the invention is         used in addition to the defined prediction types in INTRA         prediction;     -   certain prediction modes or prediction types within the HEVC         syntax are replaced by the prediction mode of the invention         (e.g., replacement of the DC intra prediction mode or any other         (directional) INTRA mode);     -   a certain value (e.g. 0) is used for the quantization parameter         in order to indicate the prediction mode of the invention.

Different parameters of the prediction method according to the invention can be sent as side information, particularly the patch form and the patch size as well as the neighborhood form and the neighborhood size. Those parameters can be sent frequently, e.g. for each picture, slice (i.e. partition of a picture) or coding unit in order to adapt to the statistics of the image signal. The parameters can also be sent only once for an image sequence or jointly for several images, e.g. within a parameter set like the sequence parameter set or the picture parameter set. As an alternative, the parameters could also be estimated by a defined algorithm. As another alternative, these parameters can be fixed in a certain profile and/or level of the standard and, thus, need not be transmitted or estimated at all.

The prediction method of the invention can be used in block-wise coding methods as well as in pixel-based coding methods. Hence, the combination of different pixel-based prediction methods with the prediction method of the invention can be used. Furthermore, the prediction method of the invention can also be used for lossy pixel-wise coding. To do so, the prediction mode is constructed as described before using the prediction algorithm of the invention. Afterwards, the prediction error for the corresponding pixel is built which is quantized in order to achieve redundancy reduction. This procedure is performed for each pixel individually.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a codec comprising a coding apparatus and a decoding apparatus using the prediction mode based on the invention. In the scenario of FIG. 6, a sequence of images is fed to an encoder EN. For performing the prediction mode of the invention, the encoder comprises a means M1 for determining similarity measures. Based on a region of pixels with reconstructed values in a single image and for a template of an image area, this means compares a first patch of pixels in this region which surround a first pixel to be predicted based on the template with several second patches, each second patch being assigned to a second pixel from a plurality of second pixels in the region and consisting of pixels in the region which surround the second pixel based on the template. As a result, a similarity measure for each second pixel describing the similarity between reconstructed values of the pixels of the second patch assigned to the respective second pixel and the reconstructed values of the pixels of the first patch is determined.

The encoder further comprises a means M2 for predicting values of first pixels. To do so, a predicted value of each first pixel is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure among all second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region.

Based on this prediction, a prediction error is obtained, which is transmitted as the coded sequence of images CI to a decoder DEC. In the decoder DEC, the prediction method used in the encoder is analogously implemented. Particularly, the decoder comprises a means M3 for determining similarity measures. For a region of pixels with decoded values in a single image which have been determined previously in the decoding processing and for a template of an image area, this means compares a first patch of pixels in the region which surrounds the first pixel to be predicted based on the template with several second patches, each second patch being assigned to a second pixel from a plurality of second pixels in the region and consisting of pixels in the region which surround the second pixel based on the template. As a result, a similarity measure for each second pixel describing the similarity between decoded values of the pixels of the second patch assigned to the respective second pixel and the decoded values of the pixels of the first patch is determined.

Furthermore, the decoder DEC comprises a means M4 for predicting values of first pixels. To do so, a predicted value of each first pixel is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure among all second pixels of the plurality of second pixels in the region.

Moreover, the decoder DEC comprises a means M5 for correcting the predicted value of the first pixel. To do so, the predicted value of the first pixel is corrected by the corresponding prediction error for the first pixel resulting in a decoded value of the first pixel. The prediction error is included in the received sequence of images CI. Eventually, a sequence of images DI is obtained by the decoder which corresponds to the original sequence of images I in case that a lossless coding and decoding has been used.

The invention as described above has several advantages. In particular, a backward-adaptive directional prediction is performed by using a single prediction mode. The prediction has a lower complexity than the prediction mode described in document [4] and International patent application No. PCT/EP2012/075988. Moreover, the prediction mode of the invention is better suited for displaying certain kind of information, namely screen content, i.e. images from a computer display where the pixel values of the displayed information (e.g. letters) usually has a high difference with respect to the pixel values of the background. Hence, the prediction of the invention can be used for remote desktop applications where a desktop of a computer is to be transmitted and visualized at the remote location. In such an application, the prediction mode of the invention is used in order to compress the transmitted desktop images.

The prediction mode according to the invention was tested by the inventors for different classes of images. The results of those tests are shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Compression ration Reference Tested Bitrate saving Class F 4.6 5.3 −11.2% Calss B 2.1 2.3 −6.8% SC (GBR) 7.5 9.0 −14.3% RangeExt 2.2 2.3 −4.4% Overall 5.3 6.3 −11.0%

In Table 1, the column “Reference” refers to a prediction mode according to the prior art. The column “Tested” refers to a variant of the inventive prediction mode being a combination of the above described Escape solution and a signaling of the inventive prediction by a specific INTRA prediction mode. The lines “Class F”, “Class B”, “SC(GBR)” and “Range-Ext” refer to different classes of video streams. The line “Overall” refers to all of the above mentioned classes. As can be seen from Table 1, the compression ratio when using the method of the invention is enhanced in comparison to a prior art method. This results in considerable bit-rate savings.

LIST OF REFERENCES

-   [1] Thomas Wiegand, Gary J. Sullivan, Gisle Bjøntegaard, and Ajay     Luthra. Overview of the H.264/AVC Video Coding Standard. IEEE     TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS FOR VIDEO TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 13,     NO. 7, JULY 2003 -   [2] Gary J. Sullivan, Jens-Rainer Ohm, Woo-Jin Han, and Thomas     Wiegand. Overview of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)     Standard. IEEE TRANS. ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS FOR VIDEO TECHNOLOGY.     VOL. 22, NO. 12, PP. 1649-1668, December 2012 -   [3] Marcelo J. Weinberger, Gadiel Seroussi, and Guillermo Sapiro.     The LOCO-I lossless image compression algorithm: Principles and     standardization into JPEG-LS. IEEE Transactions on Image Processing,     August 2000 -   [4] Peter Amon, Andreas Hutter, Eugen Wige, André Kaup, “Intra     prediction for lossless coding”, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 and ITU-T     SG16 WP3, document JCTVC-L0161/M27497, Geneva, Switzerland, January     2013. 

1. A method for coding a sequence of digital images (I), wherein the method uses a number of prediction modes for predicting values of pixels (P1) in the images (I) based on reconstructed values of pixels in image areas processed previously, where a prediction error (PE) between predicted values and the original values of pixels (P1) is processed for generating the coded sequence of digital images (CI); wherein a preset prediction mode is an intra-prediction mode based on pixels of a single image (I), in which preset prediction mode i) for a region (R) of pixels with reconstructed values in the single image (I) and for a template (TE) of an image area, a first patch (PA1) of pixels in the region (R) which surround a first pixel (P1) to be predicted based on the template (TE) is compared with several second patches (PA2), each second patch (PA2) being assigned to a second pixel (P2) from a plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and consisting of pixels in the region (R) which surround the second pixel (P2) based on the template (TE), thereby determining a similarity measure (SM) for each second pixel (P2) describing the similarity between reconstructed values of the pixels of the second patch (PA2) assigned to the respective second pixel (P2) and the reconstructed values of the pixels of the first patch (PA1); ii) a predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels (P2) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R).
 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in step ii) the predicted value of the first pixel (P1) corresponds to the value of a single second pixel (P2) which has the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R), where in case of several second pixels (P2) having the highest similarity the single second pixel (P2) is chosen by a predetermined order of second pixels in the plurality of second pixels (P2), where the single second pixel (P2) corresponds to the second pixel having at first the highest similarity in the predetermined order of second pixels (P2).
 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in step ii) the predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is determined based on the values of all second pixels (P2) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) in the plurality of second pixel (P2) in the region (R), where in case of a single second pixel (P2) having the highest similarity the predicted value of the first pixel (P1) corresponds to the value of this single second pixel (P2), where in case of several second pixels (P2) having the highest similarity the predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is a combination and particularly a linear combination of the values of said several second pixels (P2), preferably the mean of the values of said several second pixels (P2).
 4. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preset prediction mode is performed block-wise for first pixels (P1) in predetermined image blocks.
 5. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the similarity measure (SM) is based on the sum of absolute differences between corresponding pixels in the first patch (PA1) and the respective second patch (PA2).
 6. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the single image (I) is a two-dimensional image with pixels at a plurality of vertical and horizontal positions, where the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and/or the template (TE) is defined such that the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and/or the template (TE) surround a corresponding pixel (P1, P2) by at least two adjacent pixels (AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4), where the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) is the first pixel (P1) in case of defining the plurality of second pixels in the region (R) and the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) is the pixel (P1, P2) surrounded by the first or second patch (PA1, PA2) based on the template (TE) in case of defining a template (TE), said at least two adjacent pixels (AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4) comprising: an upper adjacent pixel (AP1) having a vertical position being offset upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) and having the same horizontal position as the first or second pixel (P1, P2) in the single image (I); a left adjacent pixel (AP2) having a horizontal position being offset to the left by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) and having the same vertical position as the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) in the single image (I); and optionally an upper-left pixel (AP3) having a vertical position being offset upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) and having a horizontal position being offset to the left by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) in the single image (I).
 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and/or the template (TE) further comprise: an upper-right pixel (AP4) having a vertical position being offset upwards by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) and having a horizontal position being offset to the right by one pixel with respect to the corresponding pixel (P1, P2) in the single image (I).
 8. The method according to one of the preceding claims in combination with claim 2, characterized in that predetermined order in the plurality of second pixels (P2) is either as follows: the upper adjacent pixel (AP1), the left adjacent pixel (AP2), the upper-left pixel (AP3) and, in case that the plurality of second pixels (P2) also comprises the upper-right pixel (AP4), the upper-right pixel (AP4); or as follows: the upper adjacent pixel (AP1), in case that plurality of second pixels (P2) also comprises the upper-right pixel (AP4), the upper-right pixel (AP4), the left adjacent pixel (AP2), the upper-left pixel (AP3).
 9. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preset prediction mode is used for lossless coding of the sequence of images (I), where the reconstructed values of pixels are the original values of pixels.
 10. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preset prediction mode is used for lossy coding of the sequence of images (I).
 11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the lossy coding includes a transform (T) and/or a quantization (Q) of the prediction errors (PE), where an inverse transform (IT) and/or a dequantization (DQ) of the prediction errors (PE) are performed for determining reconstructed values of pixels.
 12. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing of the prediction error (PE) includes an entropy coding step (EC).
 13. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises another predetermined prediction mode besides the preset prediction mode, said predetermined prediction mode comprising the same step i) as the preset prediction mode but a different step ii) in which a predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is determined based on a weighted sum of values of the second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R), where the value of each second pixel (P2) is weighted by a weighting factor, where the preset prediction mode is used for the first pixel (P1) as an alternative to the predetermined prediction mode in case that all weighting factors of the weighted sum are zero.
 14. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one or more parameters of the preset prediction mode are fixed and/or variable, where said one or more parameters preferably comprise the form and the size of the template (TE) and/or the form and size of the region (R) and/or one or more parameters referring to the determination of the similarity measures (SM) and/or the determination of predicted values of first pixels (P1).
 15. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preset prediction mode and/or parameters of the preset prediction mode are signaled in the coded sequence of images (CI).
 16. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preset prediction mode is used as a prediction mode in the standard HEVC/H.265.
 17. A method for decoding a sequence of digital images (CI) which is coded by a method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the prediction error (PE) is reconstructed from the coded sequence of images (CI) and wherein the values of the pixels in the coded sequence of images (CI) which are processed by the preset prediction mode during coding are subjected to a decoding processing in which i) for a region (R) of pixels with decoded values in a single image (I) which have been determined previously in the decoding processing and for a template (TE) of an image area, a first patch (PA1) of pixels in the region (R) which surrounds a first pixel (P1) to be predicted based on the template (TE) is compared with several second patches (PA2), each second patch (PA2) being assigned to a second pixel (P2) from a plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and consisting of pixels in the region (R) which surround the second pixel (P2) based on the template (TE), thereby determining a similarity measure (SM) for each second pixel (P2) describing the similarity between decoded values of the pixels of the second patch (PA2) assigned to the respective second pixel (P2) and the decoded values of the pixels of the first patch (PA1); ii) a predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is determined based the values of one or more second pixels (P2) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R); iii) the predicted value of the first pixel (P1) is corrected by the corresponding reconstructed prediction error (PE) for the first pixel (P1) resulting in a decoded value of the first pixel (P1).
 18. A method for coding and decoding a sequence of digital images (I), characterized in that the sequence of digital images (I) is coded by a method according to one of claims 1 to 16; the coded sequence of digital images (CI) is decoded by a method according to claim
 17. 19. An apparatus for coding a sequence of images (I) wherein the apparatus includes a means for performing a number of prediction modes for predicting values of pixels (P1) in the images (I) based on reconstructed values of pixels in image areas processed previously, where the prediction error (PE) between predicted values and the original values of pixels (P1) is processed for generating the coded sequence of digital images (CI); wherein the means for performing a number of prediction modes comprises a means for performing a preset prediction mode which is an intra-prediction mode based on pixels of a single image (I), where said means for performing the preset prediction mode comprises a means (M1) for determining similarity measures (SM) which is adapted to perform a step in which for a region (R) of pixels with reconstructed values in the single image (I) and for a template (TE) of an image area, a first patch (PA1) of pixels in the region (R) which surround a first pixel (P1) to be predicted based on the template (TE) is compared with several second patches (PA2), each second patch (PA2) being assigned to a second pixel (P2) from a plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and consisting of pixels in the region (R) which surround the second pixel (P2) based on the template (TE), thereby determining a similarity measure (SM) for each second pixel (P2) describing the similarity between reconstructed values of the pixels of the second patch (PA2) assigned to the respective second pixel (P2) and the reconstructed values of the pixels of the first patch (PA1); a second means for predicting values of first pixels (P1) which is adapted to perform a step in which a predicted value of a first pixel (P1) is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels (P2) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R).
 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that the apparatus includes one or more additional means for performing a method according to one of claims 2 to
 16. 21. An apparatus for decoding a sequence of digital images (CI) which is coded by a method according to one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the apparatus includes a decoding means to reconstruct the prediction error (PE) from the coded sequence of images (CI) and to decode the values of the pixels in the coded sequence of images which are processed by the preset prediction mode during coding wherein the decoding means comprises a means for determining similarity measures (SM) which is adapted to perform a step in which for a region (R) of pixels with decoded values in the single image (I) which have been determined previously in the decoding processing and for a template (TE) of an image area, a first patch (PA1) of pixels in the region (R) which surround a first pixel (P1) to be predicted based on the template (TE) is compared with several second patches (PA2), each second patch (PA2) being assigned to a second pixel (P2) from a plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R) and consisting of pixels in the region (R) which surround the second pixel (P2) based on the template (TE), thereby determining a similarity measure (SM) for each second pixel (P2) describing the similarity between decoded values of the pixels of the second patch (PA2) assigned to the respective second pixel (P2) and the decoded values of the pixels of the first patch (PA1); a means for predicting values of first pixels (P1) which is adapted to perform a step in which a predicted value of a first pixel (P1) is determined based on the values of one or more second pixels (P2) which have the highest similarity described by the similarity measure (SM) among all second pixels (P2) of the plurality of second pixels (P2) in the region (R); a means for correcting the predicted values of first pixels (P1) which is adapted to perform a step in which the predicted value of a first pixel (P1) is corrected by the corresponding reconstructed prediction error (PE) for the first pixel (P1) resulting in a decoded value of the first pixel (P1).
 22. A codec for coding and decoding a sequence of digital images (I), comprising a coding apparatus according to claims 19 or 20 and a decoding apparatus according to claim
 21. 